संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 286 of 4582

Abhanga 286

This abhang names Hanumat as the kāma-kāḷa-subduer:

When you've been trapped by kāma and kāḷa — and the abhang names Hanuman as their subduer
When the vajra-body and brahmāṇḍa-engulfing-tail establish Hanumat's cosmic-scale — and you receive this register
When saraṇa to Rāma-sevak — and you embrace this refuge

The verse

काम घातला बांदोडी । काळ केला देशधडी ॥१॥ तया माझें दंडवत । कपिकुळीं हनूमंत ॥ध्रु.॥ शरीर वज्रा ऐसें । कवळी ब्रम्हांड जो पुच्छे ॥२॥ रामाच्या सेवका । शरण आलों म्हणे तुका ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Kāma put in chains — kāḷa banished. To him, my daṇḍavat — Hanumantā in the kapi-kula. Body like vajra — engulfs the brahmāṇḍa with the puccha. To Rāma's sevak — Tuka says: I have come for refuge.

मराठी: काम घातला बांदोडी — काळ केला देशधडी. तया माझें दंडवत — कपिकुळीं हनूमंत. शरीर वज्रा ऐसें — कवळी ब्रम्हांड जो पुच्छे. रामाच्या सेवका — तुकाराम म्हणतात — शरण आलों.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
काम घातला बांदोडी "kāma put in bāmdōḍī (chains / shackles)"
काळ केला देशधडी "kāḷa (death) — made deśa-dhaḍī (banished, sent-out-of-country)"
तया माझें दंडवत "to him, my daṇḍavat (full prostration)"
कपिकुळीं हनूमंत "Hanumantā in the kapi-kula (monkey-clan)"
शरीर वज्रा ऐसें "body like vajra (diamond / thunderbolt)"
कवळी ब्रम्हांड जो पुच्छे "engulfs the brahmāṇḍa (cosmos) with the puccha (tail)"
रामाच्या सेवका "to Rāma's sevak**"
शरण आलों म्हणे तुका "Tuka says: I have come for refuge"

What it means

A Hanumat-praise abhang continuing the cluster (284-287). Three claims:

  1. काम घातला बांदोडी — काळ केला देशधडीkāma in chains, kāḷa banished. The two universal-foes of the bhakta:
  2. Kāma (desire / craving) — put in chains. Hanuman has bound desire.
  3. Kāḷa (death / time) — banished from the country. Hanuman is cira-jīvī (immortal); he has outlasted death. Both the desire-foe and the death-foe are subdued by Hanumat.

  4. कपिकुळीं हनूमंत — शरीर वज्रा ऐसें — कवळी ब्रम्हांड जो पुच्छेHanumantā in the kapi-kula — body like vajra — engulfs the brahmāṇḍa with the tail. The cosmic-and-physical scale. Body of vajra (thunderbolt-diamond — indestructible). Tail that engulfs the cosmos. Hanuman is both physical-bhakta and cosmic-being.

  5. रामाच्या सेवका — शरण आलोंto Rāma's sevak — I have come for refuge. The closing-saraṇa. Refuge in Rāma's-sevak (= not directly to Rāma, but to Rāma's-servant). The Hanumat-sevak channel is the bhakta's first-refuge.

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For someone today

This abhang names Hanumat as the kāma-kāḷa-subduer:

  1. Hanuman binds desire and banishes death. Kāma bāmdōḍī, kāḷa deśadhaḍī. The two universal-troubles — desire/craving and death/time-fear — are Hanumat's specialties. If you are trapped by either, Hanumat-saraṇa is the right-form.

  2. Vajra-body and cosmic-tail. Hanuman is both physically-indestructible and cosmically-vast. The kapi-form is local; the engulfing-tail is cosmic. Don't think of Hanuman as merely-a-monkey (the local-form); the cosmic-scale is also there.

  3. Refuge through the sevak channel. Rāmācyā sevakā saraṇa ālom. Going saraṇa to Rāma's-sevak (= Hanuman) is the bhakta's first-refuge form. Don't demand direct-Rāma-access immediately; the sevak-channel is the proper-form. (Compare 284's show me the bhakti-pathsHanuman is the path-shower.)

For today: when trapped by desire-or-death-fear, go saraṇa to Hanumat; recognize the vajra-and-cosmic Hanumat-form; use the sevak-channel as the proper refuge.

मराठी: ही ओवी Hanumat-as-kāma-kāḷa-subduer नाव सांगते:

  1. Hanuman desire बांधतो, death banish करतो. काम बांदोडी, काळ देशधडी. दोन universal-troubles — desire/craving आणि death/time-fearHanumat च्या specialties. दोन्हीपैकी एका मध्ये trapped असालHanumat-saraṇa right-form.

  2. Vajra-body आणि cosmic-tail. Hanuman दोन्ही — physically-indestructible आणि cosmically-vast. Kapi-form local; engulfing-tail cosmic. Hanuman ला merely-a-monkey समजू नका; cosmic-scale पण आहे.

  3. Sevak channel मधून refuge. रामाच्या सेवका शरण आलों. Rāma च्या-sevak ला (= Hanuman) saraṇa जाणंbhakta चा first-refuge form. Direct-Rāma-access immediately demand करू नका; sevak-channel proper-form.

आज: desire-or-death-fear ने trapped असालHanumat ला saraṇa जा; vajra-and-cosmic Hanumat-form ओळखा; sevak-channel proper refuge म्हणून वापरा.

Where this applies

Related verses